Association between gastrointestinal events and compliance with osteoporosis therapy

AbstractPurposeThe aim of this study was to estimate the rate of gastrointestinal (GI) events, and association between GI events and compliance with osteoporosis therapy among osteoporotic women.MethodsA retrospective cohort study using a large administrative claims database in the United States from 2001 through 2010 was conducted. We studied women ≥55years old who were continuously enrolled in a health plan for at least 2years, a baseline year before and a follow-up year after the date of the first prescription of oral bisphosphonate as the first oral osteoporosis treatment. Compliance with osteoporosis therapy was measured using the medication possession ratio (MPR), with compliance defined as MPR ≥0.8. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between occurrence of GI events and compliance with osteoporosis therapy after controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics.ResultsA sample consisting of 75,593 women taking at least one oral bisphosphonate with mean (SD) age of 64 (8) years was identified. A total of 21,142 (28%) patients experienced at least one GI event during the follow-up period. Only 31,306 (41%) patients were compliant with osteoporosis therapy. Patients who experienced GI events after initiation of oral bisphosphonates were 29% less likely to adhere to osteoporosis therapy as compared to patients who did not experience GI events (odds ratio [95% CI], 0.71 [0.69–0.74]; P<.001).ConclusionsLess than half of the patients were compliant with osteoporosis therapy within one year after initiating oral bisphosphonates, and the likelihood of compliance was significantly lower by 29% among women with GI events

Simultaneous extraction and purification of alkaloids from Sophora flavescens Ait. by microwave-assisted aqueous two-phase extraction with ethanol/ammonia sulfate system

A rapid and effective method of integrating extraction and purification for alkaloids from Sophora flavescens Ait. was developed by microwave-assisted aqueous two-phase extraction (MAATPE) based on the high efficiency of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and the demixing effect of aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE). The aqueous two-phase system (ATPS), ethanol/ammonia sulfate was chosen from seven combinations of ethanol/salt systems, and its extraction properties were investigated in detail. Key factors, namely, the compositions of ATPS, solvent-to-materials ratio, and the extraction temperature were selected for optimization of the experimental conditions using response surface methodology (RSM) on the basis of the results of the single-factor experiment. The final optimized conditions were, the compositions of ATPS: ethanol 28% (w/w) and (NH4)2SO4 18% (w/w), solvent-to-material ratio 60:1, temperature 90 C, extraction time 5 min, and microwave power 780 W. MAATPE was superior to MAE, the latter using a single solvent, not only in extraction yield but also in impurity content. Moreover, compared with the combination of MAE and ATPE in the two-step mode, MAATP demonstrated fewer impurities, a better yield (63.78 ± 0.45 mg/g) and a higher recovery (92.09 ± 0.14%) in the extraction and purification of alkaloids. A continuous multiphase-extraction model of MAATPE was proposed to explicate the extraction mechanism. MAATPE revealed that the interaction between microwave and ATPS cannot only cause plant cell rupture but also accelerate demixing, improving mass-transfer from solid–liquid extraction to liquid– liquid purification. MAATPE simplified procedures also contributed to the lower loss occurrence, better extraction efficiency, and reduced impurity to target constituents.The Science and Technology Project of Guangzhou (No. 2008Z1-E301) and Faculty Development fund Project of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University (No. 52104109

Estimating the contribution of local primary emissions to particulate pollution using high-density station observations

Local primary emission, transport, and secondary formation of aerosols constitute the major atmospheric particulate matter (PM) over a certain region. To identify and quantify major sources of ambient PM is important for pollution mitigation strategies, especially on a city scale. We developed two source apportionment methods to make the first‐order estimates of local primary contribution ratio (LCR) of PM_(2.5) (PM with diameter less than 2.5 μm) using the high‐density (about 1/km^2) network observations with high sampling frequency (about 1 hr). Measurements of PM_(2.5) mass concentration from 169 sites within a 20 km × 20 km domain are analyzed. The two methods developed here are mainly based on the spatial and temporal variations of PM_(2.5) within an urban area. The accuracy of our developed methods is subject to the assumptions on the spatial heterogeneity of primary and secondary formed aerosols as well as those from long‐range transport to a city. We apply these two methods to a typical industrial city in China in winter of 2015 with frequent severe haze events. The local primary pollution contributions calculated from the two methods agree with each other that they are often larger than 0.4. The LCR range is from 0.4 to 0.7, with an average value of 0.63. Our study indicates the decisive role of locally emitted aerosols in the urban severe haze formation during the winter time. It further suggests that reductions of local primary aerosol emissions are essential to alleviate the severe haze pollution, especially in industrial cities

Genetic Relationships of Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China Revealed by Microsatellite Markers

Population migrations in Southwest and South China have played an important role in the formation of East Asian populations and led to a high degree of cultural diversity among ethnic minorities living in these areas. To explore the genetic relationships of these ethnic minorities, we systematically surveyed the variation of 10 autosomal STR markers of 1,538 individuals from 30 populations of 25 ethnic minorities, of which the majority were chosen from Southwest China, especially Yunnan Province. With genotyped data of the markers, we constructed phylogenies of these populations with both DA and DC measures and performed a principal component analysis, as well as a clustering analysis by structure. Results showed that we successfully recovered the genetic structure of analyzed populations formed by historical migrations. Aggregation patterns of these populations accord well with their linguistic affiliations, suggesting that deciphering of genetic relationships does in fact offer clues for study of ethnic differentiation

Comprehensive bulk and single-cell transcriptome profiling give useful insights into the characteristics of osteoarthritis associated synovial macrophages

BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic joint disease, but the association between molecular and cellular events and the pathogenic process of OA remains unclear.ObjectiveThe study aimed to identify key molecular and cellular events in the processes of immune infiltration of the synovium in OA and to provide potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets.MethodsTo identify the common differential expression genes and function analysis in OA, we compared the expression between normal and OA samples and analyzed the protein–protein interaction (PPI). Additionally, immune infiltration analysis was used to explore the differences in common immune cell types, and Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) analysis was applied to analyze the status of pathways between OA and normal groups. Furthermore, the optimal diagnostic biomarkers for OA were identified by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) models. Finally, the key role of biomarkers in OA synovitis microenvironment was discussed through single cell and Scissor analysis.ResultsA total of 172 DEGs (differentially expressed genes) associated with osteoarticular synovitis were identified, and these genes mainly enriched eight functional categories. In addition, immune infiltration analysis found that four immune cell types, including Macrophage, B cell memory, B cell, and Mast cell were significantly correlated with OA, and LASSO analysis showed that Macrophage were the best diagnostic biomarkers of immune infiltration in OA. Furthermore, using scRNA-seq dataset, we also analyzed the cell communication patterns of Macrophage in the OA synovial inflammatory microenvironment and found that CCL, MIF, and TNF signaling pathways were the mainly cellular communication pathways. Finally, Scissor analysis identified a population of M2-like Macrophages with high expression of CD163 and LYVE1, which has strong anti-inflammatory ability and showed that the TNF gene may play an important role in the synovial microenvironment of OA.ConclusionOverall, Macrophage is the best diagnostic marker of immune infiltration in osteoarticular synovitis, and it can communicate with other cells mainly through CCL, TNF, and MIF signaling pathways in microenvironment. In addition, TNF gene may play an important role in the development of synovitis

Tuning the synthesis of polymetallic-doped ZIF derived materials for efficient hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

Cu, Co and Zn modified N-doped porous carbons (CuCo/Zn@NPC) are prepared using a polymetallic homogeneous doping and self-templating method as high performance non-noble metal catalysts for the hydrogenation of furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FAL). The CuCo/Zn@NPC-600 catalyst after treatment at 600 °C shows a superior catalytic activity with nearly 100% conversion of FF and an almost 100% selectivity of FAL using H2 at 140 °C. Meanwhile in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) using 2-propanol as a H-donor, the conversion of FF reaches 95.8% and the selectivity of FAL is 99.1%. The results show that the Zn dopant leads to 37.3 times higher yield on the CuCo/Zn@NPC-600 catalyst than that on CuCo@NPC-600, and 2.3 times higher than that on Co/Zn@NPC-600 with Cu dopants. The efficient activity of the CuCo/Zn@NPC-600 catalyst is mainly due to the highly dispersed metal nanoparticles, the advanced porous structure resulting from Zn escape from the precursor template, and the synergistic effect between Cu and Co. Furthermore, the CuCo/Zn@NPC-600 catalyst exhibits good recyclability in FF hydrogenation in four cycle tests. The advanced synthesis method using a homogeneous doping and self-templating strategy sheds light on preparing effective catalysts for hydrogenation of biomass-based compounds

Efficient single-atom Ni for catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

The employment of single-atom catalysts in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FAL) have never been effectively explored. Herein, Ni single-atoms supported on nitrogen doped carbon (Ni-SAs/NC) catalyst is synthesized and first ever utilized in CTH of FF to FAL. Atomically dispersed Ni-N4 sites change the electron density at the metal center and exhibit specific adsorption and desorption to FF and FAL, promoting an outstanding catalytic performance with turnover frequency (TOF) of 832 h-1 and selectivity as high as 97.1 at 130 oC for 2 h. Such performance is 9-fold higher than that of supported Ni nanocatalysts. The Ni-SAs/NC catalyst also exhibits superior stability for CTH of FF and excellent catalytic activity for other α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. This work provides a new strategy of producing green chemical compounds using catalytic biomass conversion and suggests the future application of long-lasting single-atom catalysts for emerging sustainable technologies

Atomistic Control in Molecular Beam Epitaxy Growth of Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Insulator MnBi2Te4

Intrinsic magnetic topological insulators have emerged as a promising platform to study the interplay between topological surface states and ferromagnetism. This unique interplay can give rise to a variety of exotic quantum phenomena, including the quantum anomalous Hall effect and axion insulating states. Here, utilizing molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), we present a comprehensive study of the growth of high-quality MnBi2Te4 thin films on Si (111), epitaxial graphene, and highly ordered pyrolytic graphite substrates. By combining a suite of in-situ characterization techniques, we obtain critical insights into the atomic-level control of MnBi2Te4 epitaxial growth. First, we extract the free energy landscape for the epitaxial relationship as a function of the in-plane angular distribution. Then, by employing an optimized layer-by-layer growth, we determine the chemical potential and Dirac point of the thin film at different thicknesses. Overall, these results establish a foundation for understanding the growth dynamics of MnBi2Te4 and pave the way for the future applications of MBE in emerging topological quantum materials.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure